[How To] Download Firefox 5 Beta Before Official Release

As you all know Mozilla has changed its recycle cycle and cut down to release new version of Firefox once in every 3months. And as per the latest rapid release cycle Mozilla has reached the beta release date for Firefox 5.

Firefox 5 Beta will be released on May 17, 2011 i.e. tomorrow.

Mozilla Firefox is moving to a rapid release development cycle to deliver new features, performance enhancements, security updates and stability improvements to users faster. To help with this, Mozilla recently launched the Firefox Aurora channel to give users more opportunities to participate in building Firefox. The Aurora channel is where users can test early stage features for future versions of Firefox without all the polish and stability of a beta release.

But here we got a small feature which was added in Aurora build of Firefox few weeks back called as “Channel Switcher“. Using this Channel Switcher, users can change the channel to get beta which in turn updated your Aurora build to Firefox 5 beta.

5 steps to get Firefox 5 beta using Aurora?

Following are the steps you should follow to get Firefox 5 Beta before the official release,

Step 1: Download Firefox Aurora Build

Step 2: Open the About Dialog

Step 3: Click on “Change” as highlighted in below image.

Step 4: Choose Beta from the drop down

Step 5: Click on “Apply and Update” button to get Firefox 5 Beta

This beta version has been released unofficially some time ago. If you had already downloaded then you are already on beta path.

If you are already using Aurora build of Firefox browser, you will not receive the beta update notification as it offers “Channel Switcher” option for manual update. Mozilla also said even Firefox 3.6 and 4.0 (final release) users will also not receive a beta notification.

Either you can follow the steps mentioned above to taste the Firefox 5 Beta or you should wait for official release.

Well we hope Mozilla is going to give tough competition to Google Chrome with their rapid release cycle. We are excited to watch this browser war 🙂 How about you? Share your thoughts….

Rajesh Chaukwale

Wow, Firefox 5 beta, i never knew such upgrade existed. Thanks for your detailed step by step guide Vinay. I'm still using Firefox 3.6.17. and it works fine, only had few crashes. Upgrading doesn't hurt though.

It seems as if the newest Beta really has no improvements and with the the intro of only the Firefox Channel Switcher(softwarecrew.com/2011/05/firefox-5-beta-makes-first-official-public-appearance/ ), it seems as if they are only looking to force users to switch to the newer versions.